"Alas, senior. I'm a marginal figure in the regimental headquarters. All of us transferred from the Imperial Army are thorns in the side of the local troops." He shook Alphonse's hand and gave him a friendly hug.
"Yes indeed. I was just sent back by that major of the Lynx Regiment." As he spoke, Alphonse took out a cigarette and handed it over.
"Just now, a battle report came from the front line. The major, the commander of the Lynx Regiment, was shot and killed by a sniper of the rebel army." Yang took the cigarette, lit it, and took a puff.
"So soon? Then who is in command now?"
Alphonse motioned for Yang to sit down and took out the battle map demonstrator and turned it on.
"The deputy commander is in acting command. He ordered the troops to act according to the original plan. They are now at this position." Yang pointed at the map.
"They took out the mobility of the Battle Bear Regiment but didn't use the same method to take out the mobility of the Lynx Regiment.
The two troops are so far apart. If the rebel army wants to wipe out the Lynx Regiment, the Battle Bear Regiment won't have time to rescue them.
But why wasn't the movement of the rebel army detected on the starship?"
Alphonse thought, and the cigarette ash fell on the ground.
Yang knew his senior's thinking habits. He didn't say anything and just pushed the ashtray closer to him.
This senior of his was famous in the military academy. He defeated the seniors in the third grade during the first-year final mock battle.
In the following two years, he fully demonstrated his innate military talent and continuously set records in the strategic class battles.
Even an old general came to have a battle. It was said that the two were evenly matched on the sand table. In the end, he deliberately made a flaw and conceded defeat to save the general's face.
"Damn it! Aipida is in danger here. How many defenders do we have here?"
Alphonse said, enlarged the map, and began to mark and calculate the distance. Rilda was to the south of Aipida, and the starport was to the north of Aipida. He suddenly understood.
"Only one regiment." Yang stubbed out the cigarette butt in the ashtray.
"The rebel army took out the mobility of the Battle Bear Regiment to prevent them from supporting the Lynx Regiment. They left the mobility of the Lynx Regiment because they needed those Imperial troop transports to deploy troops. By now, the Lynx Regiment must have entered the ambush."
Alphonse said and threw the battle map demonstrator on the table, pointing it out to Yang: "Rilda is in the far south, and Aipida is to the north.
Originally, the two regiments were supposed to advance simultaneously on the east and west sides. Now the Battle Bear Regiment on the east has lost its mobility, and the Lynx Regiment on the west has gone deep alone. If the Lynx Regiment is ambushed, the Battle Bear Regiment will be powerless to rescue."
"Then why not set up ambushes on both sides?" Yang stood up.
"Because there aren't enough troops. I estimate that the rebel army has about five thousand people." Alphonse rubbed his temples.
"That's a lot more than what the general headquarters estimated." Yang said.
"The complete battle plan should be like this. After they wipe out the Lynx Regiment with a force larger than that of the Lynx Regiment, they will use the captured Imperial troop transports to maneuver a part of the troops to the rear of the Battle Bear Regiment and then cooperate with the remaining troops to attack from the front and back. In this way, the Battle Bear Regiment will also be doomed."
Alphonse tapped on the table and said.
"Where did they get so many weapons and ammunition?" Yang said, and the communicator on his wrist rang.
"Major Yang, a battle report from the Lynx Regiment has come from the front."
"Go ahead." Yang stubbed out the newly lit cigarette and said.
"The Lynx Regiment was ambushed by a large number of rebel armies seventy kilometers away from Rilda. The casualties were heavy, and the remaining troops have all surrendered."
Yang turned off the communicator and silently looked at him.
"Isn't this enough weapons?" Alphonse said and pushed the battle map over.
"Look, will they stop after wiping out the immobile Battle Bear Regiment?" Alphonse pointed at a repeatedly marked red dot on the map.
"If this line is lost, it will be fatal. I'd better go back to the regimental headquarters and report it." Yang wiped the sweat from his brow.
"I don't think they'll listen. The top priority now is to withdraw to the ship. With these noble lords, Aipida is bound to be lost."
Alphonse finished speaking and stared blankly out of the window at the rolling dark clouds.
And here Edward rode his flying motorcycle through the battle area where the battle had just ended and stopped in front of a row of tents. He got off the bike, patted the sand off his body, and walked towards the largest one.
Entering the tent, Edward stood at attention and saluted.
"General Barr! Special Operative A19, Edward Eric, reporting for duty!"
"Oh, come on. There's no one else here." General Barr waved his hand.
"Dad, I saw a person today who looked exactly like me and had two stars on his shoulder." Edward said and ran to the cabinet to rummage for something to eat.
General Barr, who was marking the map, paused his hand and said slowly, "This person might be your twin brother."
Edward stopped tearing the dried meat.
He said, "Twin brother? I have a brother? Why didn't you tell me earlier? I almost shot my brother today."
These rapid-fire questions stunned Barr.
He said, "You never asked! I told you that you were an adopted son since you started school. You're twenty years old, and you haven't even asked who your biological parents are. Do you expect an adoptive father to bring up such a thing first?"
Then he straightened up and walked to the military kit to search for something.
Edward was left speechless. Indeed, his adoptive father had never hidden his background from him.
Back then, his adoptive father forced him, who was only ten years old, to read some difficult strategic history books.
Whenever he had free time, he was forced to conduct tactical drills on the sand table. He even arranged for a special instructor to conduct one-on-one tactical training for him. He was never neglected in his upbringing just because he was an adopted son.
"Here, this is the birth document from the hospital where you were found. They withdrew too hastily. You were probably left behind, not abandoned."
General Barr said and handed him a document in a sealed bag.
Edward felt ashamed of his hastiness just now. His adoptive father had always carried this document with him, waiting for this day.
"Brother Edward! Did the newly configured information bullets work well?" Elina lifted the tent curtain and walked in.
He turned around and saw that it was his nominal sister, Elina.
Completely different from him who liked reading, this girl had been a tomboy since she was a child and liked to take things apart.
Seeing that he couldn't control her, the adoptive father simply handed her over to the people in the research department to take care of. Over time, this little girl had actually come up with some things with practical combat value.
"They worked a bit too well. A really huge thing showed up this time." Edward folded the document in half and hurriedly put it in his pocket.
"Elina, go out for a while. I'm going to assign a combat mission to Special Operative A19." General Barr stopped his daughter from being coquettish.
"Humph!" Elina turned around angrily and walked out of the tent.
"Edward, this time you go to this position." General Barr pointed at a repeatedly marked red dot on the map.
Then he continued, "Cut off the supply connection between Aipida and the starport. Remember, only out and no in. After destroying the transport vehicles, mark it on the tactical map and notify the logistics department to clean up the battlefield.
Also, you need to hold your position in this area until our main force wipes out the Imperial Battle Bear Regiment and then marches north to rendezvous with you. Probably three days."
Edward stuffed dried meat into his mouth and said, "What if the starship sends marines to reinforce Aipida?"
"I don't expect that to happen. The Empire won't support the governor of Dossas Star anymore." General Barr said and held down Edward's hand that was still stuffing dried meat into his mouth.
"I know you don't like politics, but you have to learn it even if you don't like it. You'll take my position in the future."
"Let Elina do it. I don't want to." Edward said and tried to break free from the general's hand, but he felt the firm strength in the general's hand. He looked up at the general and met the firm and sad eyes of the other.
"I'll do my best. Don't look at me like that. I'm not used to it." He continued.
"Brats, be serious. What's wrong with Elina?" The general let go of Edward.
"I don't think there's anything wrong with Elina. I just think I'm still young..." He said insincerely. Who wouldn't like the young and pretty Elina?
But the war on Dossas Star didn't seem to end anytime soon. Even if this plan succeeded and Dossas became independent, the Imperial fleets in the surrounding star regions would surely stir up trouble again. He didn't want to be with Elina during the war.
The general waved his hand to interrupt him and said, "Go, go, go. Hurry up and carry out the mission."
Edward ran out of the tent as if fleeing. He hadn't walked two steps before Elina grabbed his arm.
"Brother Edward, where are you going on this mission?" Elina asked.
That overly sweet voice made Edward feel like his head was going to explode. He said, "Oh, it's a combat secret."
"Take me with you. I've also participated in combat training!" Elina clung to him even tighter like a snake.
Suddenly, he stood at attention and saluted, shouting, "General Barr, hello!"
Taking advantage of the moment when her arm loosened, Edward pulled out his arm and turned around to run. Behind him, there were a series of curses from Elina.